


Doctor's Diet

by navaan



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: First Date, Flirting, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-02
Updated: 2010-03-02
Packaged: 2017-10-13 01:59:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/131550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor drops in on Jack for a companionable lunch time. Or is Jack slow on the uptake?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doctor's Diet

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 10_quotes challenge at lj. Quote: _You better get off that diet before you ruin yourself."_

This had not gone at all like Jack had pictured it. After the Valiant he had imagined the only way to meet the Doctor again any time soon was disaster of epic proportions. The planet had to be threatened by destruction at least before the Time Lord came to visit him.

He would never have thought, though, that one day the Time Lord would just walk up to him on a street in Cardiff, fall in step beside him and start an amiable conversation. It felt so strange and so comfortable that Jack promtly forgot all about returning to the Hub.

"So, have you eaten, yet?" the Doctor asked out of the blue.

"Me!? Have you looked in the mirror recently."

The Doctor just raised an eyebrow. "I have. Looked in a mirror, I mean. How does that in any way answer my question?" The small, nearly indiscernible smile, showed clearly that the man had understood the jibe at his skinny figure for what it was.

"It doesn't. You really are skinny, you know? You better get off that diet before you ruin yourself." Jack smiled back with his extra bright poster boy smile to show that he was joking again.

The Doctor gave a thoughtful nod as if he was thinking this through. "I see. If your not interested in sharing my _diet_ , there is no point in asking you to sharing it, I suppose." He leaned his head sideways and gave a sigh. "Pity really. I thought it would be nice to have some company for lunch. But then I'll leave you to... whatever you were doing." He shrugged, turned and walked away briskly.

"Hey!" Jack didn't waste a second, following the Time Lord before he could really vanish again. He had expected the mood to change sooner or later, but wasn't sure if the Doctor was seriously leaving or if this was still part of the banter.

"You don't have to shout, Jack. I can hear you,” he said and stopped his flight.

Jack caught up with him. "I haven't eaten anything. No breakfast. Nothing. I'm practically starving." He hoped he sounded not as pathetic to the Doctor as he sounded to his own ears.

The Doctor just gave him an unmoved, contemplating look. Then he smiled. Brightly. "All right! Fish and chips."

Jack suppressed both a smile and a groan and fell in step beside the alien again. "You know, they have real restaurants around here. We could have some real lunch." He was not against fish and chips, but he had seen enough of take-away foods lately.

The Doctor looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. Jack expected a lecture about the appreciation of local cuisine to follow. But instead the man nodded again. "Any suggestions?" It was surprising enough that the Doctor was willing to take suggestions, but now he honestly wanted Jack's opinion? He seemed to be favoured by luck today.

"Ehm... There is a lovely little Italian place two streets down. Or..."

The Time Lord nodded enthusiastically. "Aw, Italian sounds nice. Let's go there."

The enthusiasm immediately made the Captain wonder. When had the Doctor eaten last?

On the Valiant the Master had constantly told him, how he was starving, hurting or torturing the Doctor and for some reason the panic he had felt then for his friend's well being still hadn't left him. But the man looked happy, energetic and healthy enough to make his worries seem stupid. With a brisk nod of his own he started to lead the way.

"So, Doctor. What brings you here?" Jack asked in his most conversational tone of voice. One really never knew what to expect with a Time Lord around. He didn't want to scare him off by being to obvious in his flirting, either. So a serious subject was probably the best option. “I didn't see the Tardis on the Plass. When did you arrive?”

“Oh, the old girl is in Newport. She didn't need refuelling.” The Doctor made a dismissing hand gesture. “We arrived yesterday. Some idiot has let a Gormon near the water supply. Can you believe it?” At Jack's furrowed brow the man instantly continued: “Don't worry. It's all under control. Resolved, actually. No trouble at all, you see?”

That explanation left a lot to be desired. “What's a Gormon?” He couldn't remember having ever heard of one.

“Ah, mostly invisible, liquid creatures from Morsork. Doesn't really matter now. Wasn't too much trouble anyway. No harm done. Probably came through the rift and was more confused than everyone else...”

Jack supposed he had to live with that amount of information. Although he would make sure to figure out why his team hadn't known of something like this happening not too far from their own doorstep. The Doctor made it sound like a walk in the park, but he had learned some time ago that this was the way he told nearly all of his stories. Only the one's that had hurt him on a more emotional level were different in that respect. And _those_ stories the Doctor tried to avoid telling altogether.

The man was going on explaining something about molecular structure of liquid bodies and Jack was sure he should be taking notes, because all this was potentially important data for Torchwood. He wasn't taking notes, though. He wasn't even listening to _what_ the other man said. He was only to happy to lose himself in the presence of the Doctor. It had been so long since he'd had enjoyed an easy companionship with the Time Lord and he'd missed it terribly.

It wasn't as if the Doctor was minding the one-sidedness of their conversation. He liked to chatter on at the best of times, and all Jack needed to be happy himself was the man being his usual eccentric self. So there was no need to stop the ceaseless talking until they finally reached the small Italian restaurant.

When they entered, the waiter smiled at Jack suggestively.

“Ah, I see, that is why it's a nice place. I hope they serve something beside the waiter,” the Doctor remarked jokingly, although Jack felt that there was a slight strain to his voice he couldn't place.

“The pasta is okay,” he answered smugly.

The Doctor buried his nose in the menu as soon as they were seated, studying it very carefully, as if he wanted to make sure this was really a place where they served _food_. “Is their anything you can recommended. Aside from the waiter and pasta?”

Jack smiled. “Yes, desert. But that comes after the main dish...” He wriggled his eyebrow suggestively. “... _And_ doesn't necessarily have to be something edible.”

That made the Doctor look up and right at him. “Why did I think eating with you would be a good idea?” He looked a bit exasperated, but the way he held himself was not indicating any plans of storming out. That was probably a good sign.

Flirting seemed to be allowed again.

It had been allowed in controlled doses when Jack had travelled with the Doctor and Rose, but for some reason this new version of the man was both very open to banter and at the same time very averse to flirting. Jack hadn't had the time to figure out the complex workings of this Doctor's mind, yet. Mainly because their time together had been cut short by imprisonment and world saving. He had really yearned to stay with the Time Lord, but it was tough to leave people that were relying on you for someone who couldn't even admit he liked you _at all_. It was nice of the Doctor to extend the invitation to travel with him again, but Jack didn't want to have to confront the problems his being a fact would pose for the man. But the offer it had been the only open show of affection the Doctor had extended since their reunion and he could appreciate that.

"You like me," he blurted out in answer, instantly cursing his own thought process.

The Doctor made a funny face, scratching his earlobe. "Yeah." He paused. "If I didn't there would have been no point in coming here, right?"

Jack knew he must be gaping at him open mouthed. He had been prepared for the usual evasion, a change in topic, snide remarks or banter. He had not been prepared for the Doctor to admit even the slightest hint of feelings for him.

Oh god, his head was spinning. This was really the Doctor, was it?

"What?" the man asked innocently. Before Jack could even get his thoughts together enough to think about an answer, the waiter was stepping up to their table, awaiting their order. He looked expectantly at Jack, then a little sideways at the Doctor who smiled at him amiably.

"Why don't you order something for us, Captain. After all you know this place so very _well_. I'm sure I can rely on your _good taste_." The waiter - Franco, he remembered - shot the Doctor an incredulous look, then looked at Jack flustered. Jack was as surprised by the Doctor's allusions as the poor man beside their table. He probably thought he had intruded on a date and created a comlicated situation for Jack. The Doctor sounded amused enough, but it could also be taken as the jealous remarks of a lover.

"The usual then. For both of us." He smiled up at Franco in a friendly and hopefully a little more neutral and reassuring way than he usually would. At last the man nodded and happily fled the scene.

The Doctor was watching him go with an expression somewhere between glee and innocence. Jack raised an eyebrow. "You are positively cheeky today. What put you in such a good mood?"

“Oi! Are you implying, I'm not usually in a good mood?”

He just smiled at his friend. “No, it's not that, Doc. Actually you are often in a very good mood. You just see so much, and suffer through things I can't even imagine. ” He assumed a thoughtful expression. “There are days you can be a little cruel in your banter. You can be brooding, too. And I've seen you get angry and go a little ballistic before your regeneration. You were still one of the funniest persons I've ever met then, but not always and not everyday. So today you are in good mood.”

“Ballistic, huh?” The Doctor nodded. “I was really damaged. But I've gotten better.” He seemed to think that through. “And worse. And better again.”

Jack laughed at that. “Yeah. Haven't we all? Life is a roller coaster, isn't it?”

“It is with us.” The Doctor watched the other guests in the little restaurant for a while. Then looked back at his companion. “We wouldn't have it any other way, right?”

They shared a moment of silent connection and were only interrupted by the arrival of their plates of steaming pasta. Jack couldn't hide the fact that he was pleased when the Doctor started eating and was obviously happy with the food he had ordered. He couldn't really get rid of the thought that the man needed some serious nutrition. He _knew_ it was silly. The conversation ebbed down a little, both of them only making short remarks now and then, talking about indifferent topics, basically enjoying the food and each others company. Afterwards they sat for a while drinking wine.

“So you came to visit me for food and banter?” Jack said completely content to sit there with a full stomach and the Doctor right in front of him. He couldn't remember when he had last spent a tranquil lunch time like this. Not on a mission or holed up inside the Hub, surely.

“I was in the neighbourhood. And I didn't think it a good idea to drop by at you're base of operations. Lunch seemed like a good idea.” The Time Lord looked a bit more subdued now, less frantic to keep the banter going. Something in his eyes made him seem unsure. Jack was felt he was still to overprotective and was maybe prone to view this incarnation of the Doctor as more vulnerable and insecure than he was. He was sure that was stupid. The man was anything but helpless.

“Is something wrong?” He regretted the question as soon as he had spoken it. He hadn't intended to give an opening to another of those wrongness-discussions...

The Doctor probably had seen the emotions flitting through his eyes. Because he was looking at him with sadness in his own brown eyes now. “No, Jack, _nothing_ is wrong. _Nothing_. I'm sorry I ever said that. It doesn't feel wrong, just _different_. You're special – and I'm old and stuffy and slow to adapt.”

Jack was too stunned to comment on that for a moment. His friend looked away, fixing his eyes on something indiscernible in the distance. “You are one of the most adaptable persons I've ever known, Doc,” he said, then paused. Jack replayed the words in his head. “I'm special?”

There was a soft pink tinge to the Doctor's cheeks that hadn't been there before. “As if you hadn't known that.”

For once he really was stunned. Because he _hadn't_ known that. Sure he wasn't lacking confidence in his own looks and abilities, but he hadn't known he was special in the Time Lord's eyes. Not after being abandoned and called “wrong”. How long had this been going on without him catching on? Him – the expert on everything from flirting to debauchery. “Is this a date?”

“I asked you out for lunch. I would have thought it was obvious!” The Time Lord was flustered. “I even let you decide the place.” _That_ was definitely a blush. “I'm not very good at this...” And then it finally hit home. The Doctor had seemed to be in an especially good mood because he actually had tried to be flirtatious. And now he looked like a kicked puppy, because he thought Jack was a stupid, uninterested idiot that only now had figured that one out. So much for his reputation in all things remotely connected to love life.

“No. That's not it. You just were never interested before. It's a bit much to take in. This is a date?!”

The Doctor blinked. “Of course! Why would I come here from Newport leaving the Tardis standing on some street corner and ask you to eat with me? Because I'm _hungry_?”

That finally made Jack bubble with laughter. “No, probably not, skinny boy.” He couldn't contain another chuckle at the man's mortified expression. “Oh, loosen up, Doc. Of course, I thought you wanted to eat. Enjoy yourself. Whatever. If I had known this was supposed to be a romantic outing, I would have picked a place nearer to the Hub, made little pretence at eating, skipped directly to desert and that would have been _you_.” He was glad that his voice was back to his usual deadpan, cocky tone. Finally he knew where he stood here. The Doctor on the other hand seemed to grow even more insecure.

“Maybe, it's not so bad then that you didn't figure it out until now. I'm not sure if your way of doing the date thing, is really _my_ thing.” Jack gave him a soft smile and reached for his hand. He gave it a little reassuring squeeze.

“We can do this your way. As slowly and time-lordy as you want it to be. Just fill me in. In the future, I mean.” That rolled nicely of his tongue and had a nice ring to it. They would have a future. Wherever it chose to lead them. He tried to catch the Doctor's eyes. They gazed at each other for a moment. “I'm all yours. No dessert today. Fine with me. Don't worry, Doctor. We've got time.”

The man blushed again, more pronounced than before. “I'm not sure if I'm ready for thorough desert anytime soon, you know... With cherry on top and all that, but maybe I would like to have a little _taste_...”

Jack – completely in his element – leaned forward looking straight into brown eyes. “Are we talking about kissing?” he stage whispered.

The only answer the flustered man managed was a short nod.

“Ah, Doc. I really like your diet.”

He leaned slightly forward. Their lips met in a very careful and painfully chaste kiss. Jack smiled against the Doctor's lips. This smelled like beginning. He really hoped this meant he would be seeing more of the Doctor in the future.

When the Time Lord broke the contact to lean back in his chair he seemed a lot calmer and more at ease. The Captain couldn't help but smile. At this moment it didn't matter if this would work out. It only mattered that they were _both_ finally willing to try.

“When we were talking about diet and lunch before, were we by any chance already talking about flirting and dating?”

The Doctor met his eyes and smiled. It wasn't the cheeky energetic smile from before, but a very soft smile that made his eyes glow with an inner light. It made him look more like the Time Lord he was, something more than human. He shrugged. “I'm not sure what you were talking about, Jack. But could we get the check now. I'm not sure this is the right place to get a real taste of desert?”

More kissing? Who was Jack to protest?

This had really not gone at all like Jack had pictured it. Desert instead of disaster. That was new and exciting and he was more than willing to go along with it.


End file.
